I have had my Apple iPhone 4s Black (32 GB) for about half a year now.  I was in need of an upgrade badly. Before this phone I had the iPhone 3G. Being that my phone was ancient technology, I wanted to stick with the iPhone, mainly because I knew how it worked already for the most part. Anyways, here is my review on this Apple product.

The iPhone 4s has relatively the same exact shape, size and weight as the original iPhone 4. I like this because if you had an iPhone 4 to begin with you could just keep your case and just buy a new screen protector. Basically if someone had an iPhone 4 and a 4s sitting with their backs on the table and the screen off, there would be no way in telling the difference which was which.

I ordered my 4s online and never had any prior interaction with one before I received it in the mail. When I turned on my iPhone 4s, my initial reaction was to squint. The screen is very bright. I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to specs for the most part, but I was surprised just how crisp and high res the screen looks. Eventually I turned the brightness down a tad, just to save battery drainage. Even so, text and images still come out crystal clear. The touch screen is near flawless. There have been very few times where I have accidently clicked the wrong hyperlink, or picture or whatever even if they are incredibly small. This may have been a skill that I developed over time with my 3G and carried over with me. Even so, it doesn’t take that long to get used to.  

The iPhone 4s works quite well as a phone. I normally don’t talk on the phone that often, but whenever I do I have never experienced any problems. I haven’t reset my calling statistics since Jan 22nd, from then til April 30th I talked on my phone for 9 hours and 54 minutes. I am telling you this because, during that time, I have only had 1 dropped call, and it actually happened very recently during a thunderstorm.  I have used my phone everywhere between 1-5 bars and never really came across any problems when it comes to talking. I don’t know if this is the phone or my service (AT&T) but I am very happy with the outcome nevertheless. One feature I really like about the phone is being able to use the internet or apps while talking on the speaker phone setting. Not because I am bored, and want to look up scores while talking to my mom (wink wink) but in general it comes in handy if I have to look up something real quick while talking. An example is, I recently moved to TX, and lived in 2 different apartments in 2 months. Not yet memorizing my new address, specifically the zip code, I had written it down in the notepad app. It has come quite in handy when I needed it.

The iPhone 4s runs incredibly smooth internally. Apps open instantly or near instantly. Loading times for webpages are pretty fast on the AT&T 4G network, just about the same as a strong wireless connection. YouTube definitely loads faster over the 4G; however it also loads the videos in a lower quality. Wi-Fi seems to load considerably slower but quality is high res. Netflix seems to buffer just about the same and overall looks the same whether network or Wi-Fi. Text messaging is basically instant, unless sending a photo which can take anywhere to 1-30 seconds it seems sometimes. It’s always different. I have never used the facetime app but skype works quite well, just as good as using a computer. Email takes about 2 seconds to load if you don’t get it pushed automatically. The Maps app is basically a gps, it works in real time. Overall the speed of this phone is fast over and off the network.

The iPhone 4s has a powerhouse 8 megapixel camera located on the back of the phone, which essentially as good as my digital camera. This camera is able to record HD 1080p videos at 30 frames per second. There are some cool features with this camera such as autofocusing, tapping to where you want to focus, face detection where the camera will center on the person(s) face, grid if you want to use it to line up your picture or center it. This camera also has a LED flash which you can turn on/off/automatic. This is neat because you can take hdr (high dynamic range) pictures which essentially snaps 3 shots at different exposures and combines them all in one picture for a detailed pic. The front camera or face camera is a less advanced at only .3 megapixels and video recording of vga quality videos at 30 fps. After you take a photo, you can now do basic edits such as removing red eye, auto enhancing, rotating and constraining your pictures. Another cool feature is geotagging. Basically whenever you snap a picture it will plot a point on a world map. I use this feature as a bragging feature to show my friends where I have traveled throughout the world.

Sound quality is surprisingly good, despite that it only uses one speaker. I find it to be loud enough by itself to listen to while taking a shower. I’ve never really messed with the EQ settings; I usually keep it on off. I think the EQ settings are specifically for when you use an AV cable and larger speakers or your car speakers. Using headphones greatly improves the audio, whether you are listening to music or watching a video, with headphones, even the default ear buds that come with the phone, you will pick up things that you might have missed without them. The ear piece seems a tad bit quieter. I’m not overly sure if I have the volume up all the way but if you’re trying to talk in a moderately noisy area, it’s hard to hear anything. Even sometimes when you’re in a quiet area, it can be hard to hear. Sometimes I will just put it on speakerphone in those cases.

I find the iPhone 32 GB variant to be the perfect sizing. I personally have a large music library, and put all my 4 and 5 star rating songs on my phone. This playlist ends up coming out to 11.1 GB. You could see how this would be a problem if I had the 16 GB version. This gives me a respectable amount of room for apps games and pics. I generally don’t put videos or movies on my phone, but I could still have a comfortable bit of room left if I wanted to. Also I believe each phone comes with an additional 5 GB over the iCloud service. This is basically free space where you can retrieve whatever is on there directly to your phone and vice versa I believe.  Even with this feature, I find no need for it because I have an ample amount of space to begin with.

One of the more popular features in the iPhone 4s is the Siri assistant. I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials featuring this “app”. It rather is quite fun to mess around at first, asking silly questions and such. Overall it isn’t as useful as you would think. Most of the things I could use it for, I compulsively do anyways without thinking about it. However I do ask her a lot of “where is” questions. Basically I do this because I don’t want to go through the hassle of using the maps app or googling it. I just want it to bring up an address so I can put it in my navigator. Over the past 6 months, I feel that Siri has gotten a grasp on my voice. I generally don’t enunciate some words and overtime Siri has learned that and noted it. That is pretty cool, and somewhat scary. It makes you wonder what they will come out with in the next generation iPhone.

I’ve read and heard a lot about people having battery problems, more specifically their batteries are draining to fast. I very rarely have this problem, thanks to a few tips that I’ve carried over from my iPhone 3G. Some tips I would suggest if your battery is running out to quickly is turning your screen brightness down. Limiting your push notifications helps out too. Using apps that constantly use the GPS tracking seem to drain the battery faster. Maintaining this option in the "settings" menu for specific apps may also improve your battery life. I’m sure there are a ton more tips out there, but I generally have no need for them.

I am very happy with the iPhone 4s. I consider it to be pretty much a part of my body. The 32 GB model is the perfect choice for most people. You can carry all your entertainment, pics, contacts etc. and still have enough room for whatever you want or need later. If you are looking for a reliable tech savvy phone, then look no further.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 299.99
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy